Samrat Choudhary, a Bihar BJP leader, wore a saffron turban as a vow to dethrone Nitish Kumar in 2022. Four years later, he finally got his wish when Nitish resigned as CM to move to the Rajya Sabha, and the BJP chose Samrat as his successor.
Samrat Choudhary, 57, will take oath as the head of a new BJP-JD(U) regime in Bihar on April 15. He has been chosen by the BJP legislature party as its leader.
Samrat's rise has been built on aggressive political positioning and caste arithmetic. He belongs to the Koeri-Kushwaha community, which is among the most influential OBC groups in Bihar.
His political journey has been anything but linear. He began with Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD in 1990, became a minister in Lalu's wife Rabri Devi's government in 1999, and then served in Jitan Ram Manjhi's cabinet when Nitish briefly left the chair.
Samrat joined the BJP in 2017 and even got the Home Affairs portfolio as one of two deputy CMs after the BJP-JD(U) win last year.
However, opposition leaders have raised questions about discrepancies in his election affidavits and a 1995 murder case in which his name was mentioned alongside his father's.
